


Deep Water

by TheLastNightFury



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, David Acting as Max's (Camp Camp) Parental Figure, Drowning, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Max (Camp Camp) Angst, Near Death Experiences, Not Max//vid, dadvid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-05-14 22:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19282408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastNightFury/pseuds/TheLastNightFury
Summary: Max tries to learn how to swim in secret to avoid David teaching him for the rest of summer, but when there’s no one around to save him, he suddenly finds himself in serious trouble.





	1. Chapter 1

In hindsight, it was a fucking awful idea.

After the days events, Max was anxious. Everyone knew he couldn’t swim now - well, everyone but David. From past experience, he knew that there's no fucking way the campers would be able to keep quiet about it, whether they wanted to or not. They knew he’d do anything to stop David finding out. It was only a matter of time before one of them cracked and he’d be having lessons with David. He needed to stop him from finding out.

Unless...

What if he _could_ swim? It couldn’t be that hard. If he learned in secret then by the time David found out, he wouldn’t even need lessons. It was the perfect plan. 

While everyone else was still at the lake, Max took the opportunity to sneak into the councillors cabin and take David’s phone (which the dumbass always left lying around). He looked up "How to swim" on wikihow and skimmed through it, picking up pieces of information that sounded helpful and ignoring the warnings telling him not to swim alone. What choice did he have? He couldn’t risk the other campers having another reason to blackmail him. Anyway, if he stayed in the shallow end of the lake it wouldn't be a problem. After quickly checking David’s social media, Max deleted his search history off the phone before putting it back where he found it. 

And so it began.

The day continued as normal until David had sent the campers off to bed at 9 PM. Max laid in his bed, waiting around for about an hour until he was sure Neil was asleep. There’s no way the other campers would be up at this time, Neil was always the last to fall asleep (other than Max of course). He found this out during the few occasions when the weather was too bad for them to sleep in their tents, leaving them no choice but to camp out together in the mess hall.

Max crept out of his tent, glancing at Neil for a moment to make sure he hadn’t woken up before making his way across the camping area. As he snuck past the councillors cabin and towards the lake, he realised he was still wearing his pyjama pants and yellow camp shirt. He hadn't even brought swimming shorts to camp at all. Well fuck. 

"I guess I'm wearing these then."

Max peered over the edge of the dock into the lake. The lack of light made the water look like a terrifying black hole in the ground below him. He felt like he’d just fall through it. It didn't look too deep, from what he could tell at this time of night. He took off his socks before sitting down on the dock with his legs over the edge, the surface of the water barely skimming his toes. Max made a disdainful face at the feeling, pulling his legs away from the unwelcoming cold surface. The temperature sure did seem to drop after dark. 

Max began to worry that this wasn’t a good idea, but when the image of David teaching him to swim popped up in his head, he decided there was no way in hell he wasn’t doing this. Nothing would go wrong. The water was shallow enough for his feet to touch the bottom. The dock was in reach if he needed to get out - and Jesus, if space kid could do it, so could he.

Max inched closer to the water, pushing himself closer to the edge little by little until he was as far as he could go without falling in. Well, here goes nothing. 

He slid off the edge in one go, plunging into the achingly cold water. 

His stomach dropped when he realised his feet didn't touch the bottom.

Max's breath hitched at the sudden change in temperature, feeling it shock his entire body. As he gasped, the water gushed into his lungs and he began to cough and choke. His head dipped below the surface and his lungs burned as failed to get more oxygen. He gasped sharply when his head broke the surface - only to sink back down again, swallowing more of the gritty salt water. 

This idea was fucking stupid.

He thrashed his arms about above the surface, trying to find something to grab onto. Through the darkness he caught a glimpse of the dock just long enough to realise that it was much further away than it was a few seconds before. 

He couldn’t fucking breathe. He tried to scream for help but couldn’t even muster up enough oxygen to take a single breath. Max was tired. 

As the darkness began to swallow him whole, he thought about what would happen when they pulled his body out of the water the next morning. 

Warm fingertips brush past his hand. 

And then there was nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This isn't Maxvid, thats his dad you fools

Max wakes up coughing muddy water all over his chest.

He feels someone flip him onto his stomach, patting his back in an attempt to stop him from choking. He hears a muffled voice speaking to him but can't yet make out what they're saying as he continues to cough out the remaining water in his lungs.

The first thing he notices is the dull aching in his chest and throbbing exhaustion coursing through his body. He flops onto his back, breathing heavily. Cracking his eyes open for what feels like the first time in days, Max is greeted with David's stupid concerned face hovering over him.

Max thinks he mutters something snarky about knowing he's in Hell for sure now. He sees David's expression crumble before his arms quickly wrap around his tiny frame, pulling him tightly into his chest. David’s body shakes with quiet sobs and the memory of how he got into this situation suddenly hits him like a train. He feels tears prick his eyes as relief washes over him. Max sniffs quietly, burying his head into David’s shirt and clinging onto the fabric like he’d be back in the water if he let go.

The two stayed like that for a little while until Max’s tiny voice broke through the silence.

“David, you’re kind of hurting me.”

(The second thing max noticed was that David was crushing his ribs.)

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry Max.”

Max wriggled out of David’s grip, suddenly feeling self conscious about the situation. He crosses his arms, facing away from him. “Chill out, camp man. It’s fine.”

“Max..”

Max wraps his arms around himself more tightly, blatantly avoiding David’s gaze. David doesn’t know what to think. The one day when he couldn’t sleep easily. He can’t imagine what would’ve happened if he didn’t hear the splashing. If he tried harder to fall asleep instead of going out there to investigate. It terrified him.

Max easily could’ve been dead when he found him.

Max can feel David’s gaze on him, waiting for a response or at least a sign that he heard him. He eventually gives in with a sigh.

“What David.”

“Max, what happened?”

David moves around to face Max, only to see angry tears pooling in his eyes. Max sniffs, wiping his eyes with a scowl when he realises that David is watching him.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Max-“

“Quit it David! I’m fine. Nothing happened. No one died. I don’t get what you’re so fucking worried about.”

David snaps. “Worried? Max, I was fucking terrified. It’s my job to protect you! How could I live with myself knowing I’d failed in keeping you safe? And look at you, you’re soaking wet out here in the middle of the night! God only knows how much longer you could’ve survived like that before I found you - what would I do Max?! What would I do?!"

Max simply stared wide eyed in astonishment at David’s outburst. Realising this, David lowered his voice back to his usual gentle tone, reaching his hand out to comfort him.

“Max, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice-"

Max flinched away from the touch. David decided he'd bury that red flag for now. “It’s fine, David. I- I’m sorry, I guess I didn’t think.”

“Max, you’re shaking.”

Max's gaze fixated on his trembling hands, only now noticing that David was right, although it was only partly from the cold.

“I don’t want you to get sick. Come on, I’m sure we have some spare clothes in the councillors cabin for you to change into while yours dry."

David lead the way, glancing back occasionally to make sure Max was still following.

They walked through the door quietly, closing it gently behind them. David turned the lamp on before digging through the drawers for something Max-sized. Meanwhile, Max stood on the doormat awkwardly, not wanting to ruin the floors with all the water that was dripping off him. David managed to find an old camp councillor shirt, handing it to Max along with a towel.

“Here, we don’t seem to have any pants that would fit you, but I hope this will do for now? It looks a bit too long so it’ll work fine for pyjamas. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine, David. Thanks.” Max mutters, taking the items with him to the bathroom and halfheartedly closing the door behind him.

He emerges a few minutes later in a shirt that reaches his knees. David holds back smile. He's never seen Max look less threatening in the entire time he's been at camp. His mind then flashes over an image of Max's soaked unconscious body lying on the dock. He cringes at that painful reminder of the situation, realising he had to bring that topic back up again sooner rather than later.

A forest green knitted blanket sitting on the end of David’s bed catches Max’s eye. He tugs it off and wraps it around himself like E.T. before crawling onto the bed and facing David with a defeated expression.

“Alright, David. Let’s get this the fuck over with then.”

David recoils slightly at his forwardness, taken aback considering how unwilling Max was to talk a few minutes prior. He wrings his hands together, looking around the room briefly before his eyes land on the desk chair behind him. He sits down so he can face Max properly, proceeding with a calm, gentle voice like Max would bolt if he spoke any louder.

"Okay, Max. I know it really isn't something you want to discuss, but I need to know what happened a the lake. I'm not going to be mad, I just need to know. It's my job to make sure you're safe here at camp... and I'm disappointed in myself that I failed to do that today. I'm sorry, Max."

Davids expression was so sincere that Max started to feel guilty for putting him through all this. Annoyingly positive attitude aside, he knew that David really did genuinely care about the campers - more than any adult Max ever knew. He took a deep breath, finally giving in.

"I meant what I said on Parents Day, you know."

David stayed quiet, encouraging him to continue.

"They don't care, David - at all. They sent me here the first chance they got so they didn't have to put up with me for the summer. Hell, they'd probably keep me here all year round if they could. I mean, what kind of parents don't teach their kid how to swim and then send them to a fucking summer camp with a lake and water activities? The logic's a bit shitty there if you ask me." He forces a lighthearted tone, as if it wasn't a big deal - like it didn't bother him. David could see right through it. He feels anger simmering inside him. How can a parent be so neglectful of their child? Max was lucky that he hadn't ended up hospitalised or worse after the lake incident. David decided to keep his feelings at bay for now, letting Max continue talking.

Max kept his eyes down, focused on the blanket he was scrunching up in his fists. He poked his thumb through a hole he found in the corner, seemingly finding it more interesting than anything else in the room. "I thought that maybe if I learnt how to swim behind your back then you wouldn't have to teach me for the rest of summer, and it would save face too y'know? Kinda fucking dumb now that I think about it. Especially at night, what the fuck." Max pauses for a moment, seemingly lost in the memory of earlier that night.

He finally looked up, his expression more raw and genuine than David had ever seen it. "I really thought I was going to die, you know."

And with that, David's heart breaks a little. "Oh, Max..."

Max's eyes start to well up with tears. He buries his face in his hands, too embarrassed to cry openly in front of David. David wheels the chair forwards, reaching out to comfort Max by putting a hand on his shoulder. He's surprised when Max dives forwards, wrapping his arms around David. He hesitates for a moment, gaping at the uncharacteristic display of affection before putting an arm around the boy, gently stroking his back to comfort him.

"I'm so sorry, Max. About everything. The lake, your parents... if I knew you couldn't swim we could've worked something out sooner. You deserve better."

Max doesn't respond verbally, but David feels his torso being squeezed a bit tighter. He smiles softly, his attention still fully focused on comforting Max despite his exhaustion.

"Are you going to make me swim now?" Max asks timidly, his voice muffled by David's shirt.

"I don't know, Max.. it really isn't safe for you to not have that skill. I couldn't stand for you to get hurt again on my watch, and I know you're not going to learn elsewhere.." David considers for a moment, trying to come up with a solution.

"I can get Gwen to run other activities by herself for a day while I teach you? That way the other campers won't know about it. How does that sound?"

Max makes a sound of uncertainty. "I don't know David.. can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm tired."

David smiles understandingly. "Alright, Max."

After a few minutes of Max still being cuddled into the crook of his arm, David realises that Max isn't going to attempt to move anytime soon. Only when David shuffles to look down at him does he realise that Max is already asleep. David appreciates how peaceful he looks, so unlike the usual scowl and furrowed brows he's grown accustomed to. It's how a child his age should look - so free of stress and worry. He hopes Max manages to find that someday.

It wasn't long before David too dozed off, comforted knowing Max was safe. Despite the terrifying events that had taken place, David was so relieved that he had ending up helping Max and getting him to bring his guard down for the first time. Even though he knew it wouldn't fix everything like magic, it was a start. It was progress, and David couldn't be more thankful for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First fic finished! Any criticism welcome, I hope you enjoyed :^)


End file.
